Oh Touché
by Imaginable
Summary: Harry Potter is twenty-six, he's living in America is about to get the chance of a life time; the chance to fake his own death. It's September the tenth and in one day Harry Potter will be dead... RR! Rating becuase ffnet hate me
1. Prologue

**Summary**: Harry Potter is twenty-six, he's living in America and although he doesn't know it is about to get the chance of a life time; the chance to fake his own death. It's September the tenth and in one day Harry Potter will be dead, once the ministry understand this they should stop nosing around in things that really aren't any of their business, they should stop accusing him of murder.

* * *

**Prologue**

* * *

Harry Potter was twenty-six, and as I think I've mentioned his currant residence was in America. Harry Potter was by no means an ordinary boy; in fact, I'd almost go so far as to say he was very, _un-ordinary. _Harry Potter, for any of you idiots out there who didn't know, was a wizard, but that in itself was quite un-extraordinary. What made Harry Potter so special was the lighting shaped scar on his forehead, oh, not forgetting that he was a wanted by around about half of earths population. Luckily for him he didn't live with any of the half percent mentioned. Very lucky indeed. I might add here as a nice little place to add things that there was no chance in the universe that he ever would, live in the same room as any of the angry fifty percent that is. No chance what-so-ever. Nup, he may exist in the same room as half of the world, but he would by no means be alive.

What can I tell you? What, I'd like to ask, do you want to hear? If I said to you that this Potter character was a notorious murderer who betrayed his friends and family and due to his actions world domination from the dark side (isn't that just a bit corny?) came perilously close to taking place, would you think that this guy deserved a nice little pin prick in his arm? Or, like any sensible person, would you like to know the full story.

The full story, I'm glad you asked. Well lets see, the full story can be simply put in a few words; the above accusations are shit. Falsely accused, set up, blackmailed, forced to participate, tortured into submission and charged for a crime he did not commit, can be used to describe it more precisely. I'm glad that you're a sensible person.

For those of you who immediately agreed to the first conclusions drawn I'd like to comfort you by telling you that you, sadly enough, are not the only ones. Like you judged our dear Potter so did the half of the world asked to judge. Our dearest Harry is on the run.

Sad I must admit, so very, very, _very _sad . . . umm, just wondering, do get the sarcasm thing? 'Cose I don't do it that well but any way, that was sarcasm, just in case you didn't catch that, heavy sarcasm. Why, might you be asking, am I being sarcastic, our darling Harry, who was and still is supposed to save the wizarding world, has been accused of crimes he wouldn't even think of commiting in his worse nightmares! Why do I mock him so? 'Cose he was a blithering fool, completely stupid getting caught like that, idiotic!

Ooohh, you think, ooohh! The interesting bit; what happened to cause our lovely symbol of goodness to get accused of the above mentioned? Like I said, he was stupid. Completely and utterly stupid. We can only hope that it was a one off, hope with all of our broken hearts that it will not, for any reason, happen again. Hope my dear readers, hope.

While you sit their hoping I can tell you what our daft savoir did to endue my wrath. A good place to start, I am told so very often, is always at the beginning, well stuff that, me? I'm gonna start somewhere in the middle of seventh year, several hundred pages away from the start of this story, beginnings are always so ditzy.

Well, lets see, our dear Harry is seventeen, he's dating his best friend's younger sister, they've been going out for almost a year now, and the young lad is beginning to think of something more, something you might think, and I'd be inclined to agree with you that involved a rather pretty ring placed on a rather special finger. Our Lord Foolish's first mistake, what is the guy thinking? For gods heavenly sake their in the middle of a war! The person in control of the darks army is out for our Lords blood and all he can think of is . . . well we don't need to know, but I'm proud, or not so proud, to present to you, our Lords very first mistake. Love, my dear readers, is but a tool, and what kind of an idiotic insane person would decide to yell to the whole world he's just invented a lovely way to manipulate him.

You might be thinking, well that's not so bad, just so long as he doesn't broadcast it to the entire demonic world.

**Bingo.**

Our Lord Lovely's second mistake. Big wedding. Very big wedding. **EVERYONE** is invited.

I'm sure you're catching on, god knows, only an idiot (such as our wonderful Master Potter) would still be thinking 'ohh, how nice! A lovely big wedding!' that just happens to include his friends, but he stupidly ignores them; his wonderful needs a nice wedding, to get her head off all the trauma of having a war raging. Stupid stupid stupid.

If they hadn't been such great friends our dear Ron and Hermione might have started doubting our Lord, it's a shame they didn't. Now then, you may have noticed the lovely big nice word EVERYONE up there, might you also notice that it's in capitals and screams not to be ignored? Good. Well then, if that's settled I'll continue.

Like I said; EVERYONE is invited and a few extra people turn up. Enter evil red eyed person, bad fashion sense and even worse personality, he just happens to be the gonna-eradicate-you-all-and-take-over-the-world-just-to-know-what-it-feels-like, whoo! Big mouthful! Anyway, this big sick snake lands bang in the middle of the 'I do's' he's late.

No one in the wedding seems to think that, they've all agreed subconsciously or otherwise that he's far too early, maybe he should have just given the day a miss, they really wouldn't have minded. But red-eyes is very insistant, he does want to come oh so much. Even he can't predict how wonderful everything is going to turn out, even he is unable to guess how consequential his actions are going to be. Big fat point for eternal darkness.

**Zero, one.**

Oooo, COME ON GOOD GUYS COME KICK THIS BAD GITS ARSE! No such luck folks, all our good guys are caught up in a ambush that will most likely result in their deaths. Sorry. Really I am. Well you lot do know who to blame right? Over there . . . see, the one with the black hair? Yep, him.

**Zero, two.**

Ok, just about now some really smart guy decides that none of this would have happened if a certain green eyed gentleman had not decided to hold this wedding, been so insistent . . . why was he so insistent our little git wonders, then, thinking he's got nothing to lose and at least he'll die honoured, these words spurt from his mouth:

"_IT'S POTTERS FAULT! HE'S SET US UP WHEN WE'RE ALL DEFENCELESS AT HIS OWN WEDDING! HE'S WORKING FOR YOU-KNOW-WHO!!"_ have you ever taken the time to notice that desperate people will do desperate things? Well take the time, maybe one of you could have saved the wizarding worlds smouldering butt.

Not everyone believes the chanters, half have turned on our golden boy and the rest are still steadily fighting the dark black robbed people, and might I add, steadily dieing. Well, our red eyed snake buddy ain't a idiot. Spell is cast. CRUCIO. CRUCIO. CRUCIO. CRUCIO. This I can find sympathy for; pain. Lots of pain. One more spell cast, deadly spell, bad spell, not nice at all. IMPERIO.

Kill his own wife to be, do not kill his own wife to be?

He has no choice, not really, Ginny knows, she, like our dear red -eyes is no idiot, she knows and as soon as, she understands, she forgives him. But it seems that she's the only one. Harry stands up and points his wand, can't move. Fighting it. Fighting it. Fighting it. But the pain, so intense, mind skittering, NO! Fight it!

Too late. Spell gone. Too late. Everyone's seen it. Too late. Green light. Too late. She's gone. It's too late.

Run.

Runrunrunrunrunrunrunrunrunrunrurunrunrunrunrunrunrunrunrunrunrunrunrunrunrunrunrunrunrunrurunrunrunrunrunrunrunrun.

They'll catch you.

They'll kill you.

You betrayed them. Run.

And he runs.

Long and hard, but he runs, not because he's guilty, because he's scared, he's sad, he's willing to kill himself, he's . . . he doesn't even know. All he knows is that he has to run. Hard. That's all. Run. She said so, it was her dying wish. Run.

* * *

**A/N:** Long Prologue! Hehe! Or not... really, really weird, but stay with me, it's just a prologue! I promise, next chapter will be NORMAL! Just like me! hehehe! And don't forget, not going on unless I get 6.567 reviews! And that's pittance compared to what I could charge! Ha! Review! 

Im.


	2. Chapter One

**

* * *

Disclaimer:** I own nothing. The end. (Be happy)

* * *

**Chapter 1** - The two towers

* * *

Harry Potter was twenty-six, and, once more, he lived in America. Harry Potter was a wizard; he could do magic and not get expelled from his school, he was above school. He could do magic without being traced. Thankfully. Harry Potter was not a normal wizard at that, he was a convicted murderer, you lot all know the drill.

Anyway, back to the story.

Harry Potter got up, stretched, yawned, and lay back down. It was too hard getting up. Too hard doing anything. But he had to get up and he knew it. Sighing he rolled onto his stomach and then back onto his back and then, with a thump, onto the floor. He had to find a job. A job? Nine years. Nine long years and he didn't have a job. How pathetic.

Well, that wasn't entirely true; he'd had random jobs but they'd been. . . well . . . random. At least now he knew how to make bread, use a computer properly, fry chips, guess at the stock exchange, use a cash register, make burgers, file books, work at newsagencies, look after little kids, see if a cat was sick or not, be a receptionist, work in a restaurant, know what was 'in style', and make perfect ice cream scoops. Oh life really was perfect wasn't it?

But now, now he'd finished university, now he had qualifications, now he could get a real job, a job that he actually got money at, well, enough to enable him to not have to dig into his parents vault, they were sure to notice it disappearing eventually, even if it did take them four more years.

A job? Well, the perfect place to get a job would be with one of the companies in the twin towers. It would be fun going up, and up, and up, and up and up to work.

How ironic it was. He didn't know why and he cared even less. It just felt ironical, it just felt. . . he wasn't sure. Being on the run for Nine years can do that to people. It just felt paradoxical, that was it, paradoxical. He didn't know why and he cared even less. No, wait, he did know. It could have been different. This could have been avoided. Oh how ironic it is.

A job.

* * *

A change in tact was due.

Sirius Black sighed in resignation; at least half of the aurors that had been given to his division were wanted back. But that would mean cutting the number of people who were searching for Potter. He didn't want to do that.

Potter. He hated the black haired and green eyed teenager who had killed his own wife. Killed his own family. Killed his only chance to enjoy life. Hated him with a passion. To think that he had once loved the kid. To think that he had once reassured the kid. To think. . .

Slowly, Sirius Black's days existence being ripped apart. During his life Sirius had put up with a lot of things, things normal people shouldn't have to put up with. His best friend and best-friends-wife had been murdered, he had then been accused of that very murder, then he had been thrown, quite forcefully into Azkaban. But it had not ended there. Then, the very person he had trusted the most had betrayed the light. Oh how he hated that bastard Potter.

So many leads, he had followed each one of them, hoping that maybe, that lead would be the one. But the one had yet to come. He sighed and thumped his head against his desk. He couldn't let Potter get away with what he had done! He just couldn't!

A rap on the door pulled him out of his mindset and a few exchanged words had him out of his seat so fast he could almost be classified as a blur.

Another lead, but with this one, with this one he could almost taste the bittersweet victory.

* * *

A job! He had a job! Oh joy! JOYJOYJOYJOYJOYJOYJOYJOYJOYJOYJOY! HE HAD A JOB!! When he walked out of the building he had a smile covering his face that looked like it could never be removed. A JOB! Have you ever had that feeling? Where you're just SOOO happy absolutely NOTHING can dim your blissful world?

Almost nothing sorry, almost.

Harry grinned again, well actually, he hadn't stopped grinning since his interview had come to a rather joyful end. HE HAD A JOB! Oh yes, that was all that crossed him mind as he walked, or rather skipped, back to his flat. A JOB! We, of course, are able to identify that perhaps he was being a little obsessive, but to him, well, he had a job.

(A/N: my dears I have a little piece of information you might find useful, the date is 9.11.01 for those of you inhabiting the USA and a few other countries I think, and for those of you not, 11.9.01, whatever you prefer, the date is September the eleventh two-thousand and one, for any of you out there who have not been in contact with the world lately then that's the date the twin towers went 'bye-bye')

The next morning, Harry, or Jason as he was now called, was on his way to work. He was early. It had taken him around about twenty minutes to decide what to wear, he had settled on a black suite and a pale blue shirt with a navy tie. He wanted to make a good impression.

Humming to himself he walked down the narrow alleyways and along the busy streets he didn't notice the black dog trailing behind him, he didn't notice the occasional loud crack, because it was barely noticeable in the busy city, he didn't notice Azkaban drawing closer and closer.

A low growl however did have the effect of making him turn and look around, but all he saw was a scruffy mongrel growling at him. He smiled.

"Sorry buddy, I don't have any spare dog food, but I've got a job!" he laughed and the dog seemed to regard him as though he was too over-enthusiastic at 8:48 in the morning. He sighed. Who would have thought it? A moment ago he had felt so happy, it had almost seemed as if he was bursting at the seams with joy and yet, now, he felt sad and depressed.

"If I knew what E felt like I'd swear I'd just finished having some, oh well dog, I need to get to work" he shrugged at the dog, came forward as if to pat it, thought better of it and turned to walking. The dog began growling again. He turned and smiled with sudden inspiration.

"I'll tell you what dog, you must be pretty hungry, I'll give you my sandwich, I'll buy something at the cafeteria" he pulled of his backpack and rummaged through it, swore, and dug even deeper. He pulled out a raincoat, a purse that clinked in a fashion that suggested it had money in it, a thin piece of wood, and finally a plastic bag.

"Ok, got it! I'll just shove this back into my backpack" he grabbed the raincoat, the purse and reached for the wand, it wasn't there. He looked around in confusion, before seeing the dog holding it. He sighed.

"Come on dog, I don't want to play catch, I need that" he sighed as the dog backed away. He took a step forward towards the dog and the quickly stepped back again as the dog growled. He shook his head.

"Fine! It's not like I need it any more! I should have broken it years ago! It holds to many damn memories" he glared at the dog, tears pooling in his eyes. Too late. She's dead. He took a shuddering breath and shook his head again.

"Shit, look at me! SHIT! I have ten minutes to get to work! SHIT! Keep the damn wand doggy, here, have my sandwich, I'm a NICE person, you take my wand and my lunch and give me nothing! How KIND of you" he glanced at his watch and swore again, turning around and breaking into a run.

He didn't need the wand. He didn't. The dog could have it. He had to get to work.

"Where are you going Harry?" for a second he faltered, thought of turning around, the he continued running, defiantly not turning towards the voice that had sounded out behind him. Sirius.

"WHERE ARE YOU GOING HARRY?" he didn't stop, he was scared, scared that Sirius would not let him explain, scared that the memories would overpower him, scared, so very scared. He didn't stop.

He felt the spell rush past him, but he didn't stop, he didn't turn, he couldn't, couldn't face the accusing faces, the look in their eyes. He continued running.

* * *

Sirius smiled in triumph; he had the wand! Potter was powerless without it! HE HAD THE WAND! He didn't notice the tears that threatened to spill over in our young hero's eyes, he was grinning (in his mind) manically. Finally. Finally. Oh god, finally. . .

Potter turned and began to run, for a moment Sirius is confused. Instantly he turned back into his human form. He smiled, knowing that the aurors would be waiting. Finally Potter will be repaid for what he'd done.

"Where are you going Harry?" he could see Harry pause, he could feel the surprise the boy was feeling, he could smell the fear that was radiating from him. But Potter didn't stop, he keept running and suddenly Sirius was furious, he was mad, the only time he was ever so damn mad, was when Pettigrew killed Lily and James.

"WHERE ARE YOU GOING HARRY?" he roared, just looking at the sprinting boy seemed to bring back memories to him, unwanted emotions. He grabbed his own wand and aimed it at the boy. In his fury, he missed. But he didn't care. He signalled the aurors and they appeared, all smirking at the black haired boy.

Sirius smiled as he saw it, but it was a bitter smile, he hadn't ordered the aurors to attack, not yet, he wanted to talk to the boy that betrayed them.

As Sirius knew he would, the boy had stopped and turned to face him. What Sirius wasn't prepared for was the tumble of emotions that played over the boys face, showing fear yes, showing love yes, but even more surprising, the look in his eyes that clearly stated 'at last'. He could see that the boy, no, not the boy, for murder is a crime that robs boyhood from you, he could see that the boy both dreaded and welcomed this encounter. He wonders why, the boy is not going to enjoy it at all, that he will make certain of.

"Potter" he spat the word out, as though saying it dirtied his tongue. The bo- man, frowned and Sirius sees a look of shame pass across his now blank features.

"My name is not Potter" his voice was calm, even, and Sirius shook with a rage that seemed to bring fire to his body. He sneered at Potter, Potter should not be the one to disown his family, it should be his family to disown him.

"Oh" he plays along with the game "then what is your name?" he smirked at the look of sadness that flashed in the startling emerald eyes. He felt no pity for the murderer before him.

"Jason Harrow" Sirius shook his head, he had no idea why Potter had chosen this name for himself, but he had. He let out a bark of laughter. But then. . . Potter disappeared.

"WHAT!?" he howled and all of the twenty-two aurors present flinch.

* * *

Harry staggered as he landed on the seventy-eighth floor, a few people began to stutter at his sudden appearance but he cast an oblivious charm and they all turn back to whatever they were doing.

Ohgodohgodohgodohgodohgodohgodohgodohgodohgodohgodohgodohgodohgodohgodohgodohgodohgodohgodohgodohgodohgodohgodohgod. Oh god.

He stopped. No dammit! NO!

SiriusSiriusSiriusSiriusSiriusSiriusSiriusSiriusSiriusSiriusSiriusSiriusSiriusSiriusSirius! NO!

Life my dear readers, is so very unfair.

* * *

Sirius Black glared at the Aurors assembled. The aurors, for their part, looked appropriately horrified. When Sirius spoke, his voice was low, almost, one might say, gentle. Oh, yes, so very gentle.

"Can anybody tell me where Potter is? He cannot have just disappeared!" He looked at the aurors and they all looked back. No one raised their hand.

"He didn't have his wand, so perhaps it was just some muggle trick, his magic signature has not been found on the site, or in fact in the flat we know he was inhabiting, can any one tell me what might have happened?" calm. He had to be calm.

An auror raised her hand slowly, obviously not certain what would happen if she did. "He might have had a spare wand and somehow found a way to disguise his signature?"

Sirius slumped in his chair and nodded his head, for once the man looked defeated.

"Very good Miss Darien, now, I want you to put an anti-apparation shield on the whole of New York, I don't care if people are going to go spare! I WANT IT DONE! We are going to capture this murderer once and for all. Or die trying" at the last pronouncement several of the aurors gulped noticeably. He sneered at them.

"WELL? WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?! GO AND DO IT!" they fled.

* * *

Although they didn't know it, two people were doing the exact same thing. It is more than likely that another person on the globe was too, but that doesn't matter, all that we're interested in is these two people. They were both sitting on a chair with their head in their hands, thinking. And crying.

Harry Potter was innocent.

Neither of them believed that. Neither of them thought it too be the truth. A man who kills his own wife can hardily be called innocent. Both of them hated Harry Potter. I shan't tell you who they were; you're going to have to figure that out on your own. If you said to one that they were like the other, they would most likely kill you on the spot, another similarity.

Both of them had loved Ginny Weasly, both of them had mourned her death. Both of them had thought that Harry Potter would withstand. Both of them had been wrong.

Have you guessed by now? I'll go back on my word, I'll tell you who they are; one would be the famed Sirius Black and the other? Well the other can only be Jason Harrow.

Now, both of them had other similarities, but we can cover that later, right now I shall tell you about what is just about to happen, call it seeing the future, but their paths are about to cross. Again.

* * *

Jason Harrow stood up. That was enough. He had to stop. He was not Harry Potter any more; he was Jason Harrow, he didn't know anyone called Harry Potter. He didn't want to.

Suddenly he stumbled as the floor beneath him gave a shudder (A/N: Ok, I wasn't in the towers when they fell so I'm just going to reconstruct this as I would imagine a building to die), why was to building -

"TERRORIST ATTACK!" Ahh, that explained it. (A/N: Ok, sorry about having another authors note, but I DO NOT mean to be disrespectable to anyone who lost family or friends in the attack, my cousin almost died, but it is just such a wonderful, or not so wonderful, opportunity, so again, sorry)

He closed his eyes and apparated. Nothing happened.

What? Why was nothing happe - CRAP!

He ran.

And ran.

And fell.

And fell.

And fell.

Down and down and down. He fell. The scream that was waiting patiently at his lips suddenly burst out; and he screamed his lungs away. He was going to die. At last.

* * *

"He's tried to apparate in the towers!" Sirius stood up immediately, knocking the chair he had been sitting on down to the floor. He ignored it.

"LET GO! THIS TIME, CATCH HIM!" the assembled aurors nodded in agreement, Potter was dangerous and he needed to be caught and put in Azkaban, for the greater good of the community.

"Sir! The twin towers have been attacked!" Sirius spun around facing the panting messeger.

"Death Eaters?" the boy shook his head, still panting uncontrollably.

"Some muggle dispute, but the other Aurors asked me to tell you that Potter apperated onto the seventy-eighth floor of one of the buildings, he tried to get away but the apparition wards stopped him. He's stuck in the building" the boy finished and one of the Aurors handed him a glass of water, he took it thankfully and drained the whole thing in seconds.

"So?" the boy looked confused for a moment, then realising that Black had no way to know just how severe the problem was, continued.

"He can't get out. He's stuck in the building, it's not a siege or anything like that, they've flown some flying things into the building, they're collapsing. At least three thousand people will die, including Potter" Sirius quickly closed his jaw.

"Three thousand?" the boy nodded in conformation.

"Three thousand"

"Oh my god" the boy nodded again.

"We have to try and save them!" one of the more assertive aurors shouted, obviously astounded that people could be so cruel. "They have no way of protecting themselves, what if there are wizards or witches in there?" Sirius shook his head sadly.

"They can apparate out" he said slowly, but another auror interrupted him.

"No, they can't; the apparition wards are all up" all of the aurors present gasped and the messenger paled.

"We could take them down, but it would take at least an hour, we made sure that Potter wouldn't be able to take them down, he might steal a wand, and we don't know what He-who-must-be-named taught him" if possible, everybody in the room paled further, each one looking like imminent death had just been announced, of course that might be because it had.

"Oh my god!"

* * *

Wait, wait, and wait. He was an animagus, why didn't he just. . . POP. Now, instead of a rapidly falling human there was a rapidly falling cat. Oh, wonderful, a cat? Yes, Jason Harrow was a cat.

Now, let me just explain something, cats reach their terminal velocity at five floors, but it takes them two or three to realise this. As you know all cats land on their feet, no matter from how high they've fallen from. So, relatively, cats usually die if they fall of the seventh floor because the tenseness of their body makes the landing harder, however, cats have a nearly perfect chance of living if they fall of the thirty second floor. Odd isn't it? But it's true. Now, Jason Harrow had fallen of the seventy-eighth floor, which mean he was already relaxing by the time had gone past the fiftieth, which means when he landed on the pavement at the bottom of the building, he was relatively unhurt.

He didn't bother to transform. He was running again.

But after a few steps he paused and looked back to the place he had landed. They would need a body and a body he would give them. With a slight wave of his paw a very, for the younger readers out there, mutated body now lay there, an exact clone of himself as he would have been. He gave an involuntary shudder. And then he was running.

* * *

Ron Weasley was a kind person. Most of the time. If there was one thing that Mr Weasley did not like, it was being betrayed. And he had, indeed, been betrayed. By two people.

Harry Potter, was one of them. He, like almost everyone to ever know the boy, hated him now. Harry had possessed it all; fame, money and friends, he wondered what had gone wrong.

The other person to betray him? The wound of the betrayal was still wide open and he cringed whenever he thought of it. His own wife. His own beloved wife, even if he had been second choice for her. She had slipped through his fingers like water, and now he had nothing. In his heart that is.

There was a large gap in his family where there should have been a living, breathing person. Ginny was dead, he wanted to be dead. I said before that there might have been other people sitting in a chair, thinking and crying. Well, here is another.

Hermione Granger was dead. As far as he was concerned. She was gone. His own wife. Gone. But she wasn't gone just anywhere, she was gone bad. He had seen the mark on her arm, but she had escaped. Both of his best friends had betrayed him. Left him. In a way, he didn't know why, but he felt used. He wanted to die. But he didn't want to kill. He would never join Voldemort, even if he had to die at the bastards hands.

A part of him still could not believe that his best friends had betrayed him, well, that Hermione had betrayed him, he knew that Harry had. So when Hermione turned up at his small apartment in London, he didn't stun her straight away.

"Ron" she looked him straight in the eye and he could have sworn he saw pity in her gaze.

"H-Hermione? What are you doing here? Why - " he didn't to finish as she raised her wand and shot a silencing curse at him. He took a step backwards and grabbed his wand, ready to attack like he should have first off. But she raised hers faster, and he saw his own fly across the room. He gulped.

"Ron you have to listen to me, I have something very important to tell you" she came towards him, her pure white robes billowing around her, but he took a stumbling step backwards from her and put his hand up to try and protect himself. He didn't see the look of regret on her face.

"Harry Potter is innocent" she said it so quietly that he almost didn't hear her, but when he did he stopped dead. Trying to form the words for the feelings he had failed, maybe because he couldn't speak anyway, but he stopped trying to and sat down on the floor.

"I'll take of the charm, if, and only if, you promise not to yell bloody murder" he nodded affirmatively and she cast the counter curse on him. The first words to come out of his mouth made her flinch.

"Dirty traitor, you're lying" not as convincing as he would have liked. But he saw the effect it had on her and smiled to himself. She shook her head at him.

"No! I'm not! He was under the Imperius curse, that's the only reason he killed Ginny!"

"He could defeat the curse! You're lying!"

"I'm not! Ron you've got to listen to me! He's going to die! They're going to kill him! You have to believe me! Voldemort shot the crucius curse at him four times! He couldn't defeat it! He was hurt so he couldn't! Ron you have to believe me!" all of her previous calm had deserted her and there were tears openly spilling from her eyes as she looked at her ex-best friend "You have to believe me"

"Even if I did, how do you know he's going to die? Huh?" She looked down at him, obviously trying to pull herself back together.

"I can't tell you, ask Dumbledore; he'll know. . . he knows everything" and then she disapperated, her, her white robes and her white wand gone. For a moment Ron did nothing, his wand was lying on the kitchen table, and the front door was still ajar. Slowly he got up, walked over to his wand and disapperated to Hogsmead.

* * *

As soon as he arrived he broke out into a run towards Hogwarts, barely stopping to glance at the crisp white snow that covered the ground (A/N: I have no idea if it would be Christmas in Scotland in September and I don't care, so it would be really nice if you didn't tell me the temperature should be hot enough to melt plastic).

When he arrived, he rushed up to the headmaster's office immediately, not even bothering to answer Professor McGonagall's question of why he was running in the corridors, he was no longer a student.

It was so hard. So hard to believe that it might be true, and yet, he found it far too easy. If only he let himself believe he would have noticed that Hermione had not had her own wand and the tattoo on her arm was not a skull, but something different, very different.

"Professor Dumbledore!" He burst into the office, not caring if Dumbledore was conversing with Voldemort. That could wait; he had to tell the headmaster about what had happened.

Dumbledore, thankfully, was not having a brotherly chat with the dark lord; in fact, Dumbledore was slumped in his chair asleep. Not for any longer though. He jumped up at the urgent sounding voice of Ron Weasley.

"What has happened Ron?" he carefully observed the conflicting emotions on the young Weasley's face, and his own took on a grim expression and he lowered his gaze to his hands resting on his desk.

"I saw Hermione" Dumbledore's head shot up and he looked at Ron with a rather disturbing expression. He urged the youngest male Weasley on.

"She said that Harry was innocent and that he was under the imperius curse!" Dumbledore frowned.

"Harry was able to fight the curse" Ron nodded unenthusiastically

"She said that he was put under the crucius curse as well and couldn't throw it off" Dumbledore's frown turned from confusion to an almost understanding look. His twinkling eyes were thoughtful as he inspected Ron.

"And do you believe this?"

"I. . . I don't know what to believe. I saw my best friend for seven years kill my younger sister and his own wife. I saw the tattoo of V-voldemort printed on my own wife's arm, I've believed that they both went over to V-voldemort for more than two years and less than ten minutes ago I was just told that both of them are innocent. I really don't know" he hanged his head in defeat and let out a dejected sigh.

"I did not mean to tell you this yet Ron, but it seems that recent events have forced my hand, Hermione Granger was in fact a very powerful seer, but that is not all, she was not, strictly speaking, human. Nor was Harry. As I understand it neither are aware of this fact, but it might now appear that Hermione is and perhaps even Harry. I would not find it hard to believe that Harry Potter, was, indeed innocent" at Ron's startled gasp he stopped and looked up "I am sorry"

"But he. . . I saw. . . Is it really tru - " he was interrupted (A/N: have you noticed I keep on interrupting people, oh the joys of being a Author) when the door banged open, much like it has as Ron entered the room, and Sirius Black marched in.

"Dumbledore, my people have found Harry Potter, he's in America, we've put an apparition ward on the whole city, but there's been a muggle attack on one of the cities buildings, the one Potter's in. There might be other wizards there as well, but we can't get the wards down in time for them to apparate! WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO! Oh, hi Ron" he turned to Ron and gave a sour smile before looking back to Dumbledore, a pleading expression covering his face.

Dumbledore however looked grave.

"If the situation is indeed the one you described, there is nothing we can do Sirius" Sirius chocked and looked at the Headmaster shocked.

"But we need to save them! There might be wizards in there! It's all my fault!" Dumbledore said nothing and Sirius took this as a sign of his agreement on the matter. Ron, also, looked horrified.

"How many muggles are in the building Sirius?" grave eyes turned to his own.

"More than three thousand"

"NO!"

"Yes. Three thousand are going to die" Ron, in turn chocked at the news, imagining all the lives that would be crushed, the family's that would have lost one, maybe more, members.

"Oh my god"

"That was my reaction as well" just then another auror rushed into the room, looked around, saw Sirius and rushed over to him, whispering something in his ear. Sirius's eyes widened in shock and then triumph. He grinned and motioned the auror out of the room, turning to Dumbledore.

"I have just received some information from my aurors" he paused and looked over to Ron, who was still frowing slightly but looked interested "unfortunately it's classified information, but you'll find out soon enough" he grinned again and stood up, stretching.

"What?! No fair! Tell me!" Sirius grinned at Ron and turned to Dumbledore.

"No comment old man?"

"You yourself could be called old Sirius, it's a bit unfair coming from your mouth!"

"Well, aren't you just a little bit curious?" Dumbledore nodded, but before Sirius could speak he had started himself.

"But first I would like to discuss the matter of Harry Potter with you" Sirius frowned at him, but nodded for him to continue non the less "I have received information today that he might have indeed been innocent of the crime he was accused of" he stopped at the look on Sirius's face.

"And before you ask Sirius, yes, it was reliable information" Sirius stood up and glared at Dumbledore.

"I saw him, with my own eyes, kill his wife. Do you expect me to believe this Dumbledore!?!" He was all but shouting, his voice filled with a passion that made Ron flinch.

"If you would listen to me Sirius, I will explain" Dumbledore's voice, as always, was calm. Sirius sat.

"If I were to tell you that Harry Potter was put under the crucius curse two times before the imperius was cast on him, what would be your first reaction?" it was soon in coming.

"Oh god, please tell me he wasn't!"

"In fact, if I were to tell you that Harry Potter was put under the curse four times before the imperius was cast on him, what would be your second reaction?"

"SHIT!"

"And if I were to tell you that Harry Potter was innocent, again, what would be your third reaction?" Sirius looked up from the floor.

"I'm a complete and utter bastard?" Dumbledore observed him quietly for a moment then nodded.

"And?" Sirius looked confusedly at Dumbledore and shrugged.

"You would give him a fair trial" Ron finished for him and Dumbledore nodded. Sirius however looked grave.

"I can't Dumbledore" Ron glared at him angrily and was about to open his mouth when Dumbledore cut him off.

"And why not?"

"Because. . . because Harry Potter is dead"

* * *

**A/N**: OK! Yay! My first chapter that isn't a prologue! Yay! I've got over 5000 words in the chapter! I'm so proud of myself! However, for all of you out there that think the chapters are going to be regularly this long, you've got another thing coming. We just had a bludge French lesson is all.

Alright, complain all you want that this thing is going too quickly, but I'm not gonna change this, it's taken me FOREVER to write, so bad luck. If you think that it's a-going at a good pace, tell me and I won't change it. If you think it's going to slow, go and read another fic coze I'm not interested.

I don't mean to be rude, and I'm probably making enemies with this little authors note, so I'll go now, but please, do remember to REVIEW and I'll do thanks (if there's anyone to thank) next chapter.

Toodles!

* * *

Im. 


	3. Chapter Two

**Disclaimer**: I own nothing. The end. (Be content)

* * *

**Chapter 2** - Introducing Colour

* * *

Harry Potter was dead. The words buzzed there way around his head as he sat in shocked silence. No. He couldn't be. He just couldn't. Hermione had been right. Harry Potter was dead. But Harry Potter was the boy who lived. He had lived when no one else in history ever had, he couldn't be dead. He just couldn't. And yet. . .

He looked at Dumbledore, waiting for him to deny the statement. Dumbledore instead looked grave and Ron could have sworn he saw a lonely tear make it's way down his old cheek. He gasped, and slowly but firmly put his head in his hands and wept.

* * *

When Harry Potter stopped his paws were sore and his fur sticking down to his slim body with sweat. What would he do now? Where would he go? He looked around, searching for some sign to tell him where he was.

Canada. He was in Canada. How had he got to Canada? It was miles away from where he had started from, miles and miles, how could he be here already? Wait, how long had he been running? How long had he been fleeing? How long had he been trying to escape? That was easy. He'd been trying to escape for just over eight years. It hadn't worked yet.

You could never run, they always caught up with you; they always found you in the end. Wether it was dead or alive. Would they fall for the bait? Would they believe that he was dead? He hoped so.

"Where would I be least likely to go?" he muttered, his mind whirring in thought. And then, he realised. It was obvious, so very obvious! Hogwarts! Right under Dumbledore's nose! They'd never figure it out. Never. And even if they did, there were a whole host of opportunities open to him. He grinned, Hogwarts it was.

* * *

After Ron and Sirius had left, both sober as if someone had died. Dumbledore had to remind himself that someone had. After so many close shaves Harry Potter was dead. It was ironic really, after all these years of dodging dark curses from dark wizards, he had finally been hit, but it had not been a dark curse that killed him, nor a dark wizard. It had been the people who should have been his allies.

He was just sitting on down at his desk when a beautiful black owl flew in the window, holding a white letter. If he hadn't known better he would have sworn it something the Harry Potter he knew would have done. The owl dropped it's letter on his desk and settled on the chair across from Dumbledore's office.

Dumbledore looked at the letter curiously, picking it up and inspecting it before opening the black seal on the back.

_"Dear Albus Dumbledore,_

_I wish to try out for the position as Defence professor. I am aware of the fact that the position is fabled to be cursed and so am quite sure it will not yet be filled. If it is possible and if you approve then please send an owl as soon as possible._

_Damien Harrow"_

He shook his head in momentary confusion, before sighing and beginning to write a return letter immediately. He picked up a beautiful peacock feather and composed the reply quickly.

_"Dear Damien,_

_No test is necessary, the defence position has yet to be filled and I would be honoured for you to take it._

_Albus Dumbledore"_

He was about to attach the letter to the black owls leg when another owl, this time snowy white and carrying a black envelope, entered the room. He paused and looked from the black owl to the white, surprised at the opposite and yet stunningly similar colour schemes.

(**A/N**: This is fun! Hehe! Silly and yet fun! Ok, a bit weird with all the 'black and white', 'white and black' things but, ha, funny! In a stupid sort of way! What...? Ohh. . . I'm babbling!)

He took the black letter from the white owl and once he had finished reading it looked again from owl to owl and sighed. The letter was another request for the defence position, this time from a; 'Ms Mara Edwards', he had never had so many people asking for the position. He sighed and put the black envelope down on the desk, not noticing the note that slipped from it.

Fawkes, however, did. Swooping down to Dumbledore's desk he picked up the paper with his claws and dropped it into the headmaster's hands. Dumbledore looked at the note curiously before reading it, there were only a few words on the note and he frowned as he read them, and looked up at the two owls, both of which were sitting comfortably next to each other. He stood up and left the room, his head bowed in thought. As he did the letter floated to the floor, landing softly. The black owl, curious as its owner peered at it then turned to the white, and if owls could grin, this one would have been rolling on the floor.

_"To get what you lost, to forget what you must, remember in time, for the people you trust know, they must know, else all else is lost, and the people you trust, they will go"_

* * *

Hermione Granger was only twenty-six. She'd lived a sad life. She'd been married at the age of seventeen to her best friend, and while she had loved him, it had not been in that way. Her parents were killed a year after she was married only long enough to have seen their granddaughter once.

It was not widely known what had happened to Hermione. In fact, no one knew, except for Hermione of course. Many people thought that she became a death eater and helped the people who had murdered her family. She didn't. Some people think that she was put under the imperius. She wasn't. Some people think that she's dead. She isn't. But that's not the point, those are the things that didn't happen, I'm meant to tell you about the things that did.

Hermione Granger ran away. There was no complicated treason, no illicit affair (at least, not too illicit), no, there were only hard facts. Hermione Granger ran away. It was just after she realised that she was pregnant with someone's child, not her husband's mind you. How to get away? How, exactly, to run? She thought about it so many times for so long. And in the end she came up with the perfect answer.

Join Voldemort. Well, not really; make everyone think that she had joined Voldemort. And her plan worked perfectly; her husband saw a fake tattoo on her arm, she disappeared when death eater meetings were called and suddenly it seemed as if her feelings no longer existed. Then Hermione Granger ran.

It did not take long for her husband to note her absents, in fact it took little more than a minute, to be precise 1 minute 27 seconds, but by then she was long gone. Just like the man she loved; she was on the run. But after the initial escape, her plans didn't go exactly as planned. Things started to go. . . wrong.

Aneè Granger was born on, in the old calendar, Samhain day. In old legends the day when the rift between the worlds was at it's thinnest. When the dead were just a heartbeat away and the living could feel cold perpetually tug at their hearts. But little Aneè didn't seem to mind at all.

Aneè was a quite child; she didn't scream, screech or keep her mother up half the night. But she didn't sleep either. She would lye there, and gurgle at the ceiling with that silly smile all babies have while in her eyes a twinkle that should have taken years to collect shined. She looked like she was born to be perfect, and she was. But she didn't fit in. Not in this world anyway.

Hermione didn't understand her daughter. Instead of the black hair and green eyes that should have marked her from her fathers side (as Hermione was convinced), she had dark auburn hair and velvet blue eyes that could almost be called a deep purple. She had pale skin, so pale it was almost white, her babyish complexion was like the whitest sand upon the smoothest beach.

Ane's favourite colours were black and white. Young as she was, when a red, orange or yellow sheet was placed over her she would cry and cry, and if she was asleep have fits and moan in terror. All this just because of a softly coloured blanket. Hermione learned. She herself had taken to a thin white cloak, she sometimes joked to herself that it made her look like a goddess with it's billowing fabric and its shady hood.

While Aneè grew, Hermione practised magic, the harder it was to accomplish the spell, the harder she tried. Eventually, one day, _IT_ happened.

Anyway, back to Aneè. Aneè was, by this time, two years old and Hermione twenty. That's when it all began, I'll tell you when it finished too; exactly seven years later, a week or so before she rushes into Ron's apartment, but that's a story already told. Now, you'll have to wait for a while, I have to go and update on the owl crisis that it causing me grief with writers block. Just think, you get to imagine what it was that happened. Whatever you say though, I can tell you; It'll be wrong.

* * *

Mara Edwards yawned as her owl fluttered back through the window, hoisting her eight year old daughter up onto her hip she strode over to the gorgeous creature. She sighed and rolled her eyes at the answer written upon it. Her daughter giggled.

"Why are you sighing?" when the girl spoke you could hear a faint accent, it sounded like a cross between Spanish, French and something else, however hard it might have been to imagine. She giggled again as her mother rolled her eyes for a second time.

"The headmaster who I asked for a job, says I have to work with someone else" she plopped the girl down on the table and wandered over to the fridge, pouring herself a glass of coke.

"Me too!" she sighed again and poured another.

"It's not fair! I wanted the job for a reason and he just has to go and shove me aside with someone else!" the little girl looked at her reproachfully and then rolled her eyes.

"But you knew he would put you with the other one, you told me" the little girls voice sounded mature and anyone could tell that she was intelligent by the calm and measured look in her eye. The other nodded and sighed yet again.

"But still, it's the thought that counts" the girl laughed at her and shook her head.

"No it isn't!"

* * *

When Harry Potter's owl landed on the window sill of the leaky caldron, waiting to be noticed, Harry smiled at her and gently took her upstairs to his room. When there he grabbed the letter from her claw and read it greedily. The look that passed over his face was anything but one of pleasure.

Absentmindedly he stroked the black owl down its spine, the frown he wore not leaving his face for a second.

"They want me to share the spot with someone else" he sighed in resignation. The black owl nodded, well, as much as an owl can; she had guessed as much. Her owner sighed again and she fluttered up onto his head, sitting regally in all her splendour. Harry didn't seem to think so.

"GET OFF!" ruffled and rather annoyed the owl swooped gently out of the window hooting in disapproval. Harry shook his head and once more looked at the letter, before sighing and putting it down on the desk.

A knock on the door made him jump just as Tom the barkeeper opened the door. He smiled at Harry.

"I was just wondering if you would be staying with us tonight or not Mr Harrow? You asked me to confirm the booking?" Harry nodded unhappily and paused, as if truly thinking what he would do next, he had already decided of course, but no one else needed to know that.

"I do not think that I shall Tom, I have been offered a job at Hogwarts, well, I have applied for a job at Hogwarts, and I have been accepted. I think I shall go and see the legendary school as soon as chance allows me" he grinned suddenly, even if he had to share the position, he was going back to Hogwarts; he was going home.

Both of them arrived at the same time, both of them stumbled into each other completely unawares of what they were doing, both of them set a thousand destinies running, both of them turned a thousand down, both of them changed it all. All of it. Both of them collided, but only one had a brawling child in her arms.

"Watch where you're going!" Harry couldn't help raising his eyebrow at the red head and her daughter. She glared at his chest before noticing that his head was further up.

"If you hadn't run into me we wouldn't be in this state at all" he said calmly, he found the shortish red head humorous. She glared at his face this time, but before she could say a thing the eight year old she was carrying let out a cry of shock. The young girls piercing purple eyes were fixed on the mans before she grinned from ear to ear and nudged her mother.

"He's not dead!" the woman looked momentarily confused and glanced at the man again and suddenly realised what her daughter was talking about.

"You're not dead!" he raised a delicate eye brow again before replying.

"It would seem that I am not, indeed dead" before he could think of anything else to say, or to question her sanity, she had launched herself at him sobbing.

Surprised as he was he found himself instinctively hugging the lady back, before he realised what he was doing. He blushed, completely in contrast to the wide grin of the young girl who was being squashed between him and the other.

"I'm Damien Harrow, you are?" she ignored him.

"Harrow. . ." she muttered, frowning in thought "Harrow. . ." then she looked up, surprise covering her features and then a disturbing amount of glee.

"You're Damien Harrow!" he rolled his eyes at her.

"Oh, really? I had nooo idea! Thank you so much for telling me, in fact, I don't think I ever would have figured it out it you ha. . ." he stopped as she grabbed his hand and dragged him off to the nearest café.

"Glee" the little girl muttered sadly "she's obsessed, she won't let you out of her site now, for lack of a better word, you're screwed" he looked at her annoyed.

"And you are?"

"Aneè Edwards, this is my mom, Mara Edwards and you are Damien Harrow" he rolled his eyes again but nodded none the less.

"Nice to meet you Aneè Edwards, do you think it might be possible for you to convince your mother to let me go? I feel sure that I'm going to need my arm sometime in the future" The little girl grinned and turned her attentions to her mother.

"MUMMY! WHEN ARE WE GOING TO SEE DUMBLEDORE!" Mara span around and looked at Damien, who looked right back, a frown covering his face. Aneè pocked out her tongue at him.

"Who's Dumbledore?" he asked completely non-pluss. Aneè frowned unhappily and shot a look at her mother who was now smiling serenely, her hand still firmly clasping Damien's. She let out a peel of laughter and shook her head at both Damien and Aneè, her smile still in place.

"Come now, don't play us for fools Harry, because we're not, and you can come back here right now!" Damien had jumped away from her, his hand slipping into his pocket and pulling out a thin piece of wood that he then pointed at her. She cocked her head at him, waved her arm, and put Aneè on the ground, then inspected Harry's wand that was nestled safely in her hand.

He glared at her unhappily but made no other move to run or attack.

"My name is Damien, what makes you think I'm called Harry?" she scoffed at him rather loudly and came towards him slowly, as if approaching a scared dog. He acted just like one, and jumped violently away from her.

"Who are you?" she smiled at him gently and held out her hand to him. He didn't take it.

"Harry, it's me, don't you recognise me?" he took another stumbling step backwards and shook his head frantically. She sighed and took another step forwards.

"It's me, Hermione" he stopped stumbling backwards and looked her in the eye for the first time.

"Hermione is dead" for the first time he saw confusion on her face, and finished before she could interrupt him "to me". The look that came onto her face was one that wrenched his heart for some unknown reason (**A/N:** For those of you who doubt me, this fic will **NOT** be a Harry/Hermione one. My there is a lot to doubt isn't there?). But he stood his ground.

"Why? Why is Hermione 'dead' to you? Every single wizard in this world wants your blood Harry, they want to see you fall to the ground in a crumpled heap, they was to see _you _dead Harry! And they want to see me dead" confusion clouded his own features and motioned for her to continue.

"I'm convicted of joining Voldemort, Ron saw a tattoo on my arm, I disappeared when meetings were on, and I pretended that I simply didn't care. About anything. Then I just ran, I didn't want to continue being the perfect little wife for Ron, but there were other reasons too. But I'm on the run too. I pity the students of Hogwarts."

"Why?"

"Because they're going to have two criminals teaching them, two of the most wanted people in the world telling them what to do" he frowned at her and opened his mouth to argue with something, but she stopped him, merely shaking her head.

"Why did I really pretend to become a death eater you meant? Because I was pregnant, and it wasn't Ron's child. It was someone else's. That just seemed to push me over the edge, I have no idea what else was telling to do it, but it was" she sighed and looked down tears in her eyes.

"Who?"

"Who's child Harry? I don't know. I can't remember. I'm not allowed to remember. The won't let me. But I know Aneè isn't Ron's. That I just know" the tears that had only been a trickle before suddenly burst forth, too long had she held them there, too long had she caged the rage and sorrow of her own stupidity, too long had she built a damn to halt her feelings, too long had she forgotten how to cry.

"I- I'm sorry Hermione" the only response he got was for Hermione to fling herself towards him again and cover him with tears. He glanced over her shoulder at Aneè, who was looking at her mother with a reproachful look. When she noticed Harry looking at her she smiled tiredly.

"She's sorry too. She's very sorry. She knew that you were innocent, but she didn't tell anyone, she didn't want them to think that she was working for the dark lord, she didn't know what to do. So she gave up" the little girl sat down on the street solemnly, not even bothering to pull up a chair or box.

"She. . . knew?" the little girl nodded sadly again.

"But. . ."

"I'm sorry Harry, I really am, I am, really" he looked down at her and nodded slightly, barely perceptible.

"So am I Hermione, so am I"

* * *

Jackie and Danielle Weasley were twins. The two of them came from the same birth; they had the same mother and the same father and were as close as twins could be. They had four other siblings; Phillip and Alex, who just happened to be twins also, but were three years younger that Jackie and Danny.

Bill, their father, was a professor at Hogwarts and all four of them knew the castel back to front.

Jackie and Danielle Weasley were starting their first year in Hogwarts, which made them eleven, and Pip and Alex eight. Pip was a chatterbox who took everything lightly, making jokes about the most un-funniest things. She had a tendency to exaggerate stuff until the truth was merely something of a shell posed under a bright and colourful cloak. Alex, on the other hand, was solemn and respectful; she liked reading and was very loyal to her sisters and friends, even though she had none.

Jackie and Danielle were inseparable. Jackie was the eldest of the two by seventeen minutes, and although the age difference was minimal, used it with delight in ordering her other sisters around. Danny didn't seem to mind. In her eyes, Jackie could do no wrong, everything she made was perfect and everything she owned Danny wanted.

The foursome had another pair of twins as siblings, who were only four. Hirio and Gus were the oddest out of the three sets of twins. Both were boys and both found great joy in playing pranks, tricks and light hearted jokes on other people. Both of them were also evidently very magical.

As always, the Weasley family was very large, the only one in the whole brood of children not to have kids was Ron. Apart from that, both Fred and George, as well as Charlie and Percy had a bunch of young, red headed children.

Fred had lost his wife only two months ago and had three children; Aly at three years of age, Kiah at five, Brad at seven and Josh at nine. All of them had a bright blob of ginger hair that marked them as Weasley's.

George and his wife, a muggle who's family had died in the war, had a slightly larger family. Penny who was six, Jordan who was eight, René who was three and Mel who was only eight months, they also had two other children, although they didn't come from their marriage; Finn (12) and Cara (12) were twins and came from Georges wife's old marriage.

Charlie had married an old school friend and had a whole rag-tag group of small fuzzy red heads. Harley (13), Kimi (10), Liam (9), Oliver (5), Jessica (3) and Tom (7) who were all very close and all lived at Hogwarts.

Percy had, to no one's surprise, married Penelope. They too had a brood of red-headed children, although they were the only group to only have one girl. Andrew (13) and Duncan (13) were twins with Jake (10) and Helen (10) as well as Sandy (6) and Leina (6) a couple of years younger than them.

Let's see now, that's how many kids between the lot of them? Ok, um, Jackie, Danny, Alex, Pip, Hirio, Gus, Aly, Brad, Josh, Penny, Jordan, René, Mel, Finn, Cara, Harley, Kimi, Liam, Oliver, Jessica, Tom, Andrew, Duncan, Jake, Helen, Sandy and Leina. Woh. That's a lot of the third generation. Mind you, theoretically, Mrs Weasley had seven kids, so if I were to equip each of the above families with just as many. . . Hehe. We won't go there

(**A/N**: Sorry for those of you who despise descriptions and all, you don't really need to know all of that stuff, but it might make things easier a bit later on, names are really hard to remember (**A/N.P.S. **This is a note within a note. I've grown up since I wrote the above (I'm re-editing it for posting) and I wouldn't worry that you skipped it all. It's not exceptionally important. Just refer back to it if you need to.))

Danny stood up from her sprawled position on the floor and raced into the kitchen, closely followed by a rather annoyed Jackie. Hirio, who was also on the floor drawing red roses tried to run after her, but found his small legs got entwined among them selves, resulting in him falling flat on his face. But he didn't cry. Neither Hirio nor Gus ever cried.

"Daddy! I want to go to Kimi's house! Can't we go? PLEASE?" coming to a stop she brought her hands together in a moke praying gesture. Her father sighed and looked down at the paper he was reading before back up to his daughter. Before he could reply there was a knock on the door and a laud shout, signalling Ron's arrival. He stood up, relieved to have something else to do.

"Not now honey, maybe later though, I need to talk to uncle Ron" Danny scowled at her Uncle entered the kitchen, but the look fell from her face as she saw the tear tracks on Ron's pale cheeks, curiosity, wary curiosity that is, replaced her sullen demur.

"Ron! What's wrong? What's happened? Why are you crying?" Ron ignored all of the questions and burst into tears, Danny looked on in a kind of sick amazement; she'd never seen an adult cry before.

"He's dead he's dead he's dead he's dead he's - " From the look on her fathers face he was just as confused as she was and not about to do anything about it. She jumped forward and shook her uncle Ron as much as she could, which, owing to the fact that he was a fully grown man and auror and she a small eleven year old, was not much. But it worked.

He looked down at her and picked her up, hugging her like there was no tomorrow, before he slowly putting her down again. He turned to Bill and shook his head sadly, every line on his face showing too many emotions to count. Bill couldn't help but cock an eyebrow.

"Are you going to tell me what happened or am I going to have to beat it out of you?" Ron shook his head again, this time somewhat more under control. He looked up suddenly and stared Bill in the eye, if Bill hadn't been experienced in some truly horrible curses he would have felt like taking a step backwards in fear. He didn't though and waited for Ron to speak. When he did, it was not at all what he had been expecting.

"Truth or dare Bill? Truth or dare?" Bill frowned and looked down, thinking.

"What about you? Will you play too? It's not fair if only I play, you need to answer as well, go first" Ron nodded and looked at Bill, waiting.

"Truth or dare Ron" Bill could see the war going on in his brothers eyes, but was not at all reassured.

"Dare"

* * *

_Let me tell you a story. A fairy tale. A tale of words that twist away and become pictures in the intricately woven cloth of our lives. A tale that shall make you gasp and shout warnings and cry to the world about how unfair humanity truly is. This is a tale that may make you want to curl up and die and yet shout and rejoice at the same time._

_Like all tales worth telling it has been heard many times, and like all tales worth telling, you know it as you know yourself, for this tale is yourself; it is everything, the air that you breathe, the food that you eat, the things you do, the people you meet. It is everything._

_This story begins like all stories should. . ._

_Once, Upon, a time. . ._

* * *

"I dare you - " he paused and looked at Danny, dismay clear on his face.

"To pull yourself together and tell us what happened, cose it looks like that will take all the daring you have" Jackie, who had been standing at the door, spoke for him. He gulped and nodded before starting in a hoarse voice.

"I went to Hogwarts to talk to professor Dumbledore because, because" he took a shuddering breathe and looked around, Hirio had finally made it to the kitchen and was clinging to Jackie's leg with Gus on the other, making it impossible for her to shake them off as she was trying to do while still paying as much attention as she could to his explaining. Danny was sitting on her dad's lap looking at him intently with her hazel eyes.

"Hermione came to talk to me and she said. . . she said. . ." he chocked back the tears that were threatening to overcome him and glanced down at his hands. At the mention of Hermione, Bill had leant forward, a frown creasing his face and his fist clenched tightly, Hermione's betrayal had not only hit Ron hard, the whole family had been affected.

"What did she say Ron?" there was barely contained hostility in his voice and Ron shook his head then gulped, silent tears now pouring down his face.

"She said. . . She said that. . . THAT HARRY WAS INNOCENT!" he broke down again, throwing his head into his hands and shaking with the sorrow that wracked his body. Bill had frozen and was looking at Ron as if he was crazy.

"How could he have been innocent Ron? We saw him kill her, saw him raise his damned wand and kill our sister and you think he might be innocent? RON! PULL YOUR SELF TOGETHER!" he didn't even bother to hide the hate in his voice, didn't bother to try and believe his brother, he didn't bother to do anything except clench his fists and glare at his younger brother. But Ron had leapt up, his face wet from the tears, but all the same furious.

"HE'S INNOCENT BILL! HE. IS. INNOCENT! DUMBLEDORE HIMSELF SAID SO! DUMBLEDORE HIMSELF!" again he broke down and before Bill could say anything else corrected himself.

"Was innocent"

"He was not"

"Bill, listen to me, listen good; he. was. innocent. Voldemort put the crucius curse on him, four times, he couldn't fight the imperius when it came! Don't you get it? Don't you understand? HARRY POTTER WAS INNOCENT!" Bill had frozen again, denial clear on his face.

"F-four? He wen - " Hirio had detached himself from his sister and evidently wanted to be picked up. He didn't look at all disturbed by the look on his fathers face, he didn't look like he cared that blood was dripping for where his fathers nails had ripped into skin, he didn't care about any of that. He wanted up.

"Up" Obediently Bill picked up his youngest child, the child that had, in essence, caused the death of his wife four years ago. He smoothed his son's hair, and then stopped, noticing the blood on his hand. It was only then that the truth began to sink in, only then that he realised what the meaning of the news meant. He sat down heavily, Hirio still curled up in his arms.

"Harry Potter is innocent" Ron's tears increased.

* * *

_. . . There lived a prince. He was brave, strong and kind, his people loved him and he loved his people. The prince knew that one day he would inherit his kingdom, but that day seemed a long way off, so he didn't let it worry him._

_Although the prince loved his kingdom and his people, he wasn't all that keen on being a prince._

_Then one day the prince when out riding with his father, the king. In the forest they were separated from the main hunting group and the prince feared there might be a plot to overturn the kingdom. But the king, his father, didn't listen, he wanted to hunt, and the idea of being hunted didn't appeal to him. He ignored the prince._

_The prince was wary and his caution was rewarded when he heard a rustle in the bushes and the tearing of cloth. He warned his father quietly and went to deal with the person. When he arrived at the place he saw a man with a bow who was turning it on his father, he cried out to stop the archer, but the person shot the arrow true and his father fell dying to the forest floor. . ._

_

* * *

_

When Author Weasley arrived home to the Burrow after work, he was greeted by a despondent silence. He frowned in confusion, and then horrible thoughts suddenly started to fly through hid head. Had Voldemort attacked again? Had one of the family been hit? Had anyone died? Had they all been kidnapped? Had they. . .? He took a deep breathe and shoved all negative thoughts behind a special wall built for the occasion. It had been there since the beginning of the war and it wasn't going any time soon.

"Molly? Kids? Are you here?" he took a step closer and was bombarded with several so far unidentifiable kids. He laughed and wondered why he had thought the house quite when these monsters where inside.

"Where are all the grownups Al? I need to talk to Molly about work and. . ." the group of kids all sobered and he was surprised to see that even Oliver was there. The worry he had pushed down jumped right back up again.

"I need to talk to an adult. Now" Helen, who was the eldest there, nodded her head and beckoned him to follow her.

"We just came over, Uncle Bill and uncle Ron had to talk to our mommy's and daddy's, they were talking about someone called Harry, Grandpa, who's Harry?" Author looked at Oliver curiosly.

'I don't know Ollie, the only person I know with the first name Harry is Harry Potter" unconsciously he had balled his hands into fists, gently he released the pressure and frowned at the children. "But no one calls him 'Harry' they all call him 'Potter'" the children nodded, all of them had heard of this 'Potter' person at least once.

"But you mean Harry Potter! The boy-who-lived! The one who was convicted of..." she paused and looked around conspicuously; all of the children leaned in, waiting for her to continue "murder" she whispered, the all jumped back slightly and gasped. If Author hadn't been concerned he would have found it hilarious the way Helen was manipulating them so expertly.

"What does murder mean?" Kiah, her eyes bright with the terror of conviction whispered. Helen rolled her eyes and glared at her. Kiah blinked slowly and stared at her with round yellow eyes.

"It means that you killed someone!" The younger kids, including Kiah, all gasped again and Helen smiled in spite of the annoyance she felt of having to look after such dim-bats.

"What's killing someone mean?" This time she let out a laud and audible sigh.

"It means that you send someone to heaven and never see them again" she smiled with her answer, however, Kiah's small brow was furrowed in confusion.

"But, I thought heaven was good" Helen again rolled her eyes, trying to think of something to say.

"It is, but, it's different!" Kiah blinked again, the obvious spokes person for the younger children who all had there eyes avidly fixed on her face.

"How?"

"They don't want to go to heaven!"

"Why?"

"Because. . . Because heavens bad"

"But you just said tha –"

"No I didn't!"

"But! You said that heaven was good!"

"I lied!"

"Oh"

"Heaven's bad"

"Oh"

"Very bad"

"Oh. I don't want to be murderered"

"Of course you don't you idiot!"

Author, who had been listening to the conversation and trying not to laugh shot a admonishing glance towards Helen, who, huffing, continued to lead him into the woods surrounding the Weasley house. After a moment he stopped recognising the path.

"I know where we're going" he whispered, the words dry in his mouth. Alex nodded, but Kiah looked confused.

"Where?" barely noticing her at all, he looked around frantically; obvious not happy at all.

"Where?" he voice was more persistent this time and he looked down to her, before starting to continue along the well worn path they had been following. Kiah frowned in anger.

"WHERE?!" again he seemed to ignore her, and just before she was about to open her mouth and ask again, he answered.

"We're going to Ginny's grave"

* * *

**A/N**: Hehe! Wait and see oh wait and see! OH OH OH OH OH! HEHE! Am I evil? Do you think me mean? Oh, but don't worry, don't worry at all, everything will work out in a truly unexpected way, and I'm not at all caring if you think that it's no good and a bad ending cose I got it all up here ::taps head with bread roll:: SO THERE!!

Also guys, if there are a few grammer things with past tense and present them I am _so_ sorry, I couldn't decide whether to write it in present or past. Obviously I chose past, so sorry if there is any present left in there!! I really am!!

By the way, I ought to add that I wrote this a long time ago, almost a year now, and I'm only just posting it. I gave up on it when my laptop was wiped of _everything_ it had. Yes, including two whole chapters more of what I have of this fic at the moment (I hadn't backed up for ages) so it will probably finish abruptly sometime in the (very) near future unless I get some serious reviews. Sorry about that, but for me, the chapters are soo long, and I've kinda lost interest in the plot. But still. I live for reviews - and so does this fic.

I'm sorry about this chapter - it got a little off track around about everywhere, hopefully if i post another one it'll be better. But I wouldn't hold your breathe on me posting it.

Below are the kids and their ages, 1 - 13. Ane's in there because at some point she's going to meet the Weasley's now isn't she? So even if it isn't for a couple of chapters, patience my readers, patience.

0-1 - Mel

3 - Aly, René, Jessica

4 - Hirio, Gus,

5 - Oliver, Kiah

6 - Penny, Sandy, Leina

7 - Brad, tom

8 - Jordan, Pip, Alex, Ane

9 - Josh, Liam

10 - Kimi, Jake, Helen

11 - Jackie, Danny

12 - Finn, Cara

13 - Harley, Andrew, Duncan

Ok, there we go! I am so proud of this chapter! It is so LONG! YAY! It took me over a THREE WEEK'S to finish it! Can you BELIEVE that? Ha! It has over 6300 words! In three chapters I've gone and over rode all my previous scores for my other fics that took nine to make! ARGG! Oh well, it all works out well for you! Tell me what your thinking and I'll post the next one soon!

Im.


End file.
